Life in the Core
POSTED BY: SpaceAnJL
UPDATED: Friday, September 7, 2007 15:07
VIEWED: 5278
PAGE 2 of 2
When I dealt with a character from the Core, I went exactly in the opposite direction. Any time there is an advanced, high society with gifted individuals calling the shots, there will be legions upon legions of peons doing all of the grunt work. Even the magical skyline of Sihnon had to be built by sweaty, dirty men working for just enough money to buy dinner and a bottle of hooch.
Add to the fact that even the best terraformed planet will have less-than-hospitable regions in it, and you'll have a further divide between the nice, rich regions, and the more arid, impoverished regions.
Too, creation of many of the uber-high tech toys can't be entirely automated. There will always be a need for human labor to fill the gaps of what the computer can't do for itself. There might not be very many factory workers, but there will be a need for them, even in places where automation is the order of the day.
I posit that every one of the Core Planets are as stratified by wealth and standard of living as Earth is today, which is to say, 1% of the people having 90% of the fun and money, while presenting 100% of the public relations image. There are poor people on the Core worlds, and in droves. It's just that the rich folk are good at keeping them out of the common sight.
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I ain't lookin' for help from on high. That's a damn long wait for a train don't come.
98% of teens have smoked pot, if you are one of the 2% that haven't, copy this into your signature.
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Quote:
Originally posted by mal4prez:
Yeah, I'm with BrainSpecialist. There's been a shift in the mentality of society as far as power balance for women, or the whole Companion thing could never be. These women are so respected that they go on to be diplomats and politicians. Imagine that happening today!
i have to be quick, sorry.
1) did you know that in the 19th century a woman medium and prostitute ran for president?!!! IT IS TRUE.
2) i can't make my mind up about the role of women in the 'verse...
(still exploring different takes in my fics)
problems are:
Companions are 'respectable' - but to an extent - (not unlike 'socialators' in Galactica). Inara gets a lot of verbal abuse - and 'ambassador' is an ironic title. Having a 'consort' on your arm was de rigour (sp?) in the old courts of france but women had no power. a similar thing could be said of geishas in japan. very respectable - little obvious power.
(of course it's a complex issue)
The most obvious female leader - indeed the only one who leaps to mind is Patience - out of the core - and whose ambitions are derided slightly.
The alliance seems predominately male.
saffron could be seen as a woman desperate to steal some individual power back - and she does it through back stabbing the men she marries (surely a point is being made).
Zoe is female. But i) Joss clearly wanted a strong recurring female character. ii) What other women browncoats do we actually see?
i'm not saying you're wrong - you could, point of fact be absolutely correct... i just have a suspicion that joss - who is a mega femminist and who has gone on record very recently at equality.org as denouncing 'the male war against women' -- had not made up his mind whether to present a utopian, dystopic or mixed up now-ish engendered society.
whew! so much for the quick reply!
hope that made sense!
???
this shiny shiny site!
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OT side bar - gender swings and roundabouts. Ever seen the wonderful Sherlock Holmes series with Jeremy Brett?
In the victorian days - working with horses was a good trade, there were many horse professions. all male only. even simple stable skills were the province of men. women worked with cows*.
when they came to make the show - the producers discovered they couldn't find any men! ALL the handsome cab and calvary riders are women in disguise! true! LOL!
*even in the US the 'cowgirl' phenomenon was rare, in truth.
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Quote:Even if it is, it is such a bizarre occurance that it you had to go back more than a century to come up with the example! And I bet she didn't do well, and certainly didn't use her "training" as a means of getting votes.
Originally posted by wytchcroft:
1) did you know that in the 19th century a woman medium and prostitute ran for president?!!! IT IS TRUE.
The disrespect of Inara you mention comes largely from Mal. The "ambassador" thing certainly does, and there have other threads arguing his reason for being so bitchy to her, so I won't get into it here. But I don't think it reflects the regular treatment she gets - her reaction to him shows that she's not used to being insulted.
In one of those visual companion book thingys, Joss does say that the diplomatic skills Companion are so good at are prized, so much so that they often have a public life after they quit taking clients. The fact that a woman with hordes of sexual experience - paid sexual experience, no less - isn't automatically seen as dirty, represents a huge shift in how society views women and sexuality.
Another example - I love love love how Kaylee is innocent and naive and sweet and yet sexually empowered, which are not qualities you see all in one female character EVER. Things would have to be different for her to not be at all embarrassed about her sexuality. Or maybe I just think that because I grew up in the midwest, where proper women are delicate virginal little flowers...
OK, I've no doubt that it isn't universal, and certainly in this big `verse there will places where women are far from empowered. But that's part of the beauty of Joss's vision - the "good guys" on the Border worlds aren't so enlightened, and the "bad guys" in the Core have actually done some good. The Alliance isn't utopian by any means, but it's not purely evil.
You have a very good point about the military. The power figures we have seen are mostly male. But we have seen women in uniform. OK, Alliance underlings, but I recall one, at least, and possibly a woman Browncoat in the cut scene from the pilot... I'd have to check. I've assumed that the tough women are out there, since we have Zoe and Patience in our first introduction to the `verse, and, after all, it's a Joss show LOL! But I could certainly be stretching my assumptions too far...
*sigh* With a full seven seasons we'd know for sure...
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hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left
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Quote:
Originally posted by mal4prez:Quote:Even if it is, it is such a bizarre occurance that it you had to go back more than a century to come up with the example!
Originally posted by wytchcroft:
1) did you know that in the 19th century a woman medium and prostitute ran for president?!!! IT IS TRUE.
just thought ya might like to know is all.
Quote:,
In one of those visual companion book thingys, Joss does say that the diplomatic skills Companion are so good at are prized...
my bad, aint read it. sorry.
Quote:
so represents a huge shift in how society views women and sexuality.
given the above - absolutely. i agree.
Quote:
Another example - I love love love how Kaylee is innocent and naive and sweet and yet sexually empowered, which are not qualities you see all in one female character EVER.
yeah absolutely - and i hate the 'delicate flower' nonsense you also describe. -bangs head in sympathy!-
Quote:
But we have seen women in uniform. OK, Alliance underlings, but I recall one, at least, and possibly a woman Browncoat in the cut scene from the pilot... I'd have to check. I've assumed that the tough women are out there,
i generally LIKE the asumption - and keep to it - but it's weird... i had the same experience as you - kinda "c'mon - there's loads a women - well there's a few - well there's one, that one time..." and the more i looked the less i found! (i'm not saying there are none at all but - Few, very few)
Quote:
*sigh* With a full seven seasons we'd know for sure...
sobs.
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